31 The Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus replied, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?" ³³ The Jews answered, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God." ³⁴ Jesus answered, "Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’—and the scripture cannot be annulled— ³⁶ can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷ If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." ³⁹ Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

The other night Jen and I watched a movie that had received quite a bit of accolade this past year because of the performance by one of the actors, Forrest Whitaker. The movie is called The Last King of Scotland and it details the relationship that is developed out of a chance encounter between Idi Amin, the 1970’s Ugandan dictator, and a strait out of medical school doctor who was trying to get away from the shadow of his father in Scotland. The opening portions of the movie show a benevolent Amin who welcomes this visitor with open arms, and lavishes him with a position (of personal physician) that looks to offer the opportunity to help Uganda develop a national health care system. Amin brings his doctor into his inner circle and before the doctor realizes it, he has become complicit in the massacres of Amin’s political opponents. He was complicit because he followed blindly, not looking around, but instead only choosing to see the things that he wanted to see, the things that fit the template that he had allowed Amin to create for him.

What is scary is that as the movie led you into the midst of the story, you could absolutely see how it could happen, not only in that doctor’s life, but in our life. The reason that I say that is because it has happened so many times in the history of the world. Someone stands up and starts to give all of the answers that you want to hear, and in return you follow, and follow blindly.

It’s only later, after something starts to feel not so good, that you begin to look around and see the horrible things that were happening all along. The people who followed Hitler as they stood trial for war crimes said that they were only following orders. The country of Uganda at first accepted Amin with open arms. They celebrated his rule. It’s only later that they began to realize what sort of a leader, but more importantly, what sort of a person, he was.

And every time it happens we are so bold as to declare ‘never again’. Never again will we blindly follow and allow 300,000 to be killed as they did under Amin’s reign in the 1970’s. But what happens? Bosnia and Herzegovina happens in 1993 where over 100,000 were killed. Rwanda happens in 1994 where somewhere around a million people were killed. Darfur happens in 2006 where it’s closing in on half a million who have been slaughtered. We continually separate ourselves from each other and act as if it doesn’t directly affect us, then it doesn’t matter. Well, it’s not in my neighborhood, so it’s okay. It’s not affecting my bank account, so I’ll let someone else worry about it.

Over the last few days I’ve had a few people come up to me and say how ‘they were touched’ by what they heard me say last week. While I absolutely appreciate that, I hope that we begin to act on that feeling. We need to recognize that we are interconnected. We are not some isolated little islands. In that truth we also need to look at our leaders, the people whom we follow, and ask, ‘okay, what’s being created? Is it something good? Or is it something else? Am I merely following because what they are saying fits what I want to hear or I am following because what they are creating is of God?’ Because that last question should be the guiding of principle of who we follow. Is the person or principle that I am following, of God?

This was the question that Jesus asked of the religious leaders. "What are you going to stone me for? You’re not going to stone me for what I’ve done because you know that what I’ve done is good. Instead you want to stone me because what I am doing is contrary to your individualistic beliefs." And the leaders admit it. The religious leaders of Jesus day are not against him because of what he is doing but instead because he is a threat to their power. They had created their own little world and anything that fell outside of that world would be eliminated. It didn’t matter if it was good, because it was contrary and contrary made it bad. The blinders were on and they were not going to be removed from the path that they were on, regardless of where it was actually leading.

A quick story about my 8-year-old Jim. Jim, as almost all of you know, is a very, let’s call him, active child. Part of how this manifests itself is that he becomes hyper focused on what he wants to do and he just keeps plowing forward until he gets it. However, there are more than a few times, when what he wants is not necessarily what’s best for him, or those that are around him. It’s not malicious, but it’s also not cognizant to what’s actually going on around him.

One of the phrases that I have caught myself saying when he kicks into this hyper focused mentality is that he needs to keep his ‘head on a swivel’. I’m not sure who I picked that phrase up from, but I know where I picked it up. I learned it on the baseball field and it was what various coaches hollered at me (and other players) so that we would begin to understand that the game was not just happening where we were looking: it was happening all around us. And if we didn’t pay some attention to those other things around us, we were going to end up missing something, which would ultimately cost us in the long run.

In Jim’s case, I want to get his head on a swivel so that he is able to begin to understand that there are things and people around him and he needs to pay attention to those various stimuli. As much as he has moments where he would like to be, he is not an island in and of himself.

We also need to hear that. We need to have our head on a swivel so that we are able to see and hear what is actually going on around us, and I’m not just talking about the little bubbles that we have created, the little islands that we are comfortable with. We need to keep our heads on a swivel so that we can truly recognize where we are being led, so that we are able to be led, not blindly, but with all our senses plugged in to where God would have us go, and ultimately, who God would have us be.

Now at this point you may be thinking to yourself, "time to get off the soapbox, Ryan. What are some practical, pragmatic steps that I can take to have my ‘head on a swivel’ and follow where God would have me go?"

To that question I reflect back to a moment that took place at consistory this past Thursday night. We got down to the education committee report and Desiree said that she has 17 people reading the book, The Man who Loved Women with 12-14 attending the class on Wednesday night. John then said that between 10 and 12 are at his Tuesday morning Beatitudes study. There are 4 to 6 people at the Jesus in the Old Testament K-Group and another 10 folks already signed up for either version of How to Live and Extraordinary Life. We also have 12-15 women at the Wonderful Women of Faith group that meets once a month, which doesn’t even count existing groups and committees like Arts and Crafts, Property, Mission and Outreach, Scudder, the Shepherds, Pre-School, the choirs, or the youth groups. What’s an amazing way to get ourselves off the self-imposed islands that we have created? Find a group to get involved with and jump in! Because when you jump in to one of these sorts of groups you are able to realize that 1. you are not alone 2. God is calling us to work with each other and 3. with God on our side, there is a whole lot that can be done to better ourselves, our families, our communities, and yes, even the world.

But this sort of development can’t happen if you’re just bulling forward, rejecting out of hand the truths that are all around you. The religious leaders of Jesus day couldn’t see the good that Jesus was doing and wanted to get rid of him. We need to recognize that similar tendency in our own lives to reject others in order to blindly follow what we want. We do it. We absolutely do.

However, if we start to look around and make a concerted effort to actually care for each other, for the creation, and for the Almighty, we will begin to combat the isolationism that plagues so many of our lives.

It is so very easy to follow the voices of our culture that say that the only person that matters is you. It’s real easy to blindly follow that voice. I challenge you to start looking around because if you do I think that you will realize that God is calling us to live a life that is so much more fulfilling as we come together and acknowledge the good that can be done by God when we come together. Who are you following? Who are you following?

O God, it’s so very easy to live a life that separates us from all those around. God, shake us from this self-destructive of life and instill in us a willingness to reach out and be connected to one another, and through that connection listen to how You would have us serve You in the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.